


Peace Not Only In Dreams

by kate7h



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Eremika - Freeform, Eremika Week, F/M, Married Life, Post-Canon, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 12:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6956791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate7h/pseuds/kate7h
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikasa wakes from a nightmare, Eren comforts her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peace Not Only In Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Eremika Fluff Week on tumblr. Prompt: sleep

Sleep, in and of itself, was for rest. It didn't mean you had to dream. To dream of a better time, a better place, that didn't matter. It was the revitalization of the body, the mind, the strength to continue onward. It was essential. Dreams weren't. 

That's was what Mikasa told herself as she lay on the ground, cool grass beneath her head. The dew seeped into her clothes, making her cold, so much colder than the summer morning should've been. The cold seeped into her, choking, and the smell of death drifted around her, suffocating. Blood mixed with the dew on the grass.

_ This is a dream _ , Mikasa told herself, still lying on the ground, her hair splayed around her head, looking up into the murky sky, the rising sun illuminating the horrors around her. This is a dream. 

_ This is  _ not _ a dream, _ she thought harshly. The pages of an old book flashed before her eyes, clear water with waves crashing on sand, broken down walls revealing a beautiful world of peace and never fearing what was beyond. Onward, ever onward. A man with green eyes, his arms wrapped around her in the warmth of the sun, a carefree smile on his lips. These were dreams. Horrors such as the one she couldn't leave, that was a nightmare. 

Mikasa flinched, squeezing her eyes closed, trying to erase the blood, the horrors, the enormous titans as they gorged themselves on her friends, her family. Biting and swallowing and crushing and it was too much.  _ Wake up, wake up! _

Sleep is a necessity. Sleep. Keep on sleeping, as they will, forever. 

Mikasa jerked away as the image changed, from the deaths of her friends to the deaths of her parents. Of Carla. Of what Eren said of Grisha's, her grisly imagination bringing that to life in her head. Of Armin, his beautiful mind being devoured in one bite and she was powerless to save him. Of Eren, ripped and torn beyond his supernatural ability to repair. Broken in body as Mikasa would always be broken in heart.

_ Wake up! _

"Mikasa!" 

She woke with a gasp, feeling a cold sweat seep through her nightclothes, sticking to her back as she sat up, abruptly dispelling the horrible images. After a moment of blinking and gasping, she looked around to find herself in her own bedroom, in her own bed surrounded by clean sheets and the arms of her husband.

"You okay?" Eren said, his hands grasping her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.

Mikasa blinked a few more times, then breathed in, long and deep before nodding, wiping at her face with the base of her palm. "I'm alright… bad dream."

Eren pulled back, allowing her room to breathe. "Yeah, I figured. I didn't wanna wake you up, but you seemed really deep in it."

She left her hand pressed against her forehead, trying to erase the memory of it from her mind. "Thanks."

Eren laid back down, looking up at her as she composed herself. His hand was pressed against her back, a silent support. Something he'd never have thought to do a few years ago. A form a affection she could understand now. Being married, they had learned how to communicate in ways she'd never thought they could learn. But she was glad, none the less.

"You can go back to sleep, I'll be fine," Mikasa mumbled.

"Nah, I can wait up with you," Eren replied. "I wasn't asleep anyway."

Mikasa laid down beside him, frowning at him. "Why weren't you sleeping?"

Eren shrugged. "Same as you, I guess. But nightmares are bound to happen. It's just something we gotta deal with."

She reached out, gently brushing the hair out of his face. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "When you're not having a nightmare, you look really peaceful when you sleep, so I wasn't gonna take that away from you for my sake."

Mikasa's frown deepened. "I'd rather you let me help you, too."

The smile fell away, softening his face in a sad sort of way, his eyes boring into hers, their green almost grey in the dim light. "I wasn't trying to carry it alone. It just helps to see you like that, you know?"

Her heart warmed at the words, at the look in his eyes. Peace was something they were trying for,  _ had  _ been for a long time now. Since the end of the war, since spending years searching and surveying the world, since they'd come realize the care they had for each other was more than either of them had realized before. Since their first kiss, since their wedding day, and long after that. It was a continual goal, this peace. But, like any soldier who'd survived this long, they carried that baggage into this new step in their lives.

But in her sleep, she was achieving peace, so that could be construed as progress.

"Eren," she murmured, pulling herself closer until she felt his breath against her face. "We're gonna be okay."

Eren's blinked. "Huh?"

She smiled, letting her eyes close, not in the peace of the moment, because those horrors her mind conceived were still fresh in memory, but it was in the possibility for peace, for life and love that they were living now. For healing. They could do it. "Nightmares can't erase the fact that we're here, that we're alive and together. The titans are gone and we're moving on to better things. We can do this."

The next thing she knew was his lips pressed to hers, and she pulled in a breath, letting him push her to lie on her back as his arms encircled her, and she could feel herself melting into him. His touch seemed to chase away the fear in her heart. He was here, he was real, and she could feel his heart beat against her chest. She felt the life within him as he kissed her, grasping onto her as if he, too, were afraid she'd be gone the instant he let her go.

When her lungs were starting to burn, he pulled away to litter the rest of her face in kisses, some short pecks, some longer and slower. Her fingers wrapped themselves in his hair, holding him close as his lips worked their way down her neck. 

"We should probably actually sleep," she said, trying to hide the breathlessness in her voice.

Eren groaned, the noise vibrated against her throat, sending a shiver down her spine. "You that tired?"

"I just know we have an early day tomorrow. I would like to be awake and alert at dawn for the new recruits."

She felt him smile against her skin before pulling away enough to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Alright then."

As he moved away, Mikasa held tighter to his neck, pressing her lips to his for a final, lingering kiss. 

She let their lips part, holding him mere centimeters above her. "I love you, Eren." She spoke the words with confidence, assurance of their truth, and courage to now say them aloud, when a few years back, speaking them aloud to him was unthinkable. Now, it was a daily occurrence.

Eren smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Me too."

Mikasa rolled her eyes with a laugh in her voice. "Is it too hard to say the words?"

"I said words," Eren insisted with a smirk, which earned him a light shove.

He chuckled, and Mikasa was sure she would never not melt at the sound. He wrapped her up in his arms once more, letting her nuzzle her face into his chest, his cheek against the top of her head. 

"I love you, Mikasa," he sighed. "Now go to sleep, you moron."

Mikasa smiled, letting her muscles relax as his warmth enveloped her, hoping her dreams were dreams of that warmth and light and of Eren being happy and as in love with her as she was him. No, she hoped her dreams were just like her reality. No more war, no more blood, no more death. Just life and their pursuit for peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
